Poor Teaching

Egent sane populi quibus praeestis vel potius quos decepistis audire. Attendite verba Domini ad apostolos et turbas loquentis, quae et vos, ut audio, in mediu crebro proferre non pudet. Super cathedram Moysi sederunt scirbae et Pharisaei. Omnia ergo quaecumque dixerint vobis, servate et facite: secundum vero opera eorum nolite facere. Dicunt enim et ipsi non faciunt. Periculosa certe ac supervacua sacerdotibus doctrina est, quae pravis operibus obfuscatur. Vae vobis, hypocritae, qui clauditis regnum caelorum ante homines, vos aute non intratis nec introientres sinites intrare. Non solum enim prae tantis malorum criminibus, quae geritis in futuro, sed etiam pro his qui vestro cotdie exemplae pereunt, poenali poena plectemini: quorum sanguis in die iudicii de vestris manibus requiretur. Sed quid mali, quod servi parabola praetenderit, inspicite, dicentis in corde suo: Moram facit Dominus meus venire. Qui pro hoc forsitan inceperat percutere conservos suos manducans et bibens cum ebriis. Veniet ergo, inquit, Dominus servi illius in die, qua non sperat, et hora qua ignorat, et dividet eum, a sanctis scilicet sacerdotibus, partemque eius ponet cum hypocritis, cum eis certe qui sub sacerdotali tegminie multum obumbrant nequitiae, illic, inquiens, erit fletus et stridor dentium, quibus in hac vita non crebro evenit, ob cotidianas ecclesiae matris ruinas filiorum vel desideria regni caelorum. Sed videamus quid Christi verus discipulus magister gentium Paulus, qui omni ecclesiastico doctori imitandus est, sicut ipse hortatur: Imitatores mei estote, inquiens, sicut et ego Christi, in tali negotio praeloquatur in prima epistola dicens: quia cum cognoverunt Deum, non sicut Deum magnificaverunt aut gratias egerunt, sed evanuerunt in cogitatioibus suis et obcaecatum est insipiens cor eorum dicentes se esse sapientes, stulti facti sunt. Licet hoc gentibus dici videatur, intuemini tamen, quia competenter isitius aevi sacerdotibus cum populis coaptabitur. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Source: Migne PL 69.384c-385a

Certainly the people over whom you preside, or rather whom you deceive, have need of hearing. Attend to the words of the Lord spoken to the Apostles and the crowds, words which even you, I hear, do not blush to bring forth often in public. 'The Scribes and the Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses, therefore, whatever they say to you, listen to and do, but do not act according to their works, for they speak and they do not do.' Perilous and vain for the priest is the teaching darkened by evil acts. 'Woe to you hypocrites who shut the kingdom of heaven to men but do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who would go in to enter.' 1 You will be punished with a grave penalty not only for the huge crimes of sins which you bear for the future time, but also because of those who perish every day because of your example. On the day of judgement the blood of those men will be required at your hands. Observe what evil is set forth in the parable of the servant who said in his heart, 'My Lord delays.' Before which he had probably 'begun to beat his fellow servants, eating and drinking with those who were drunk.' It is then said, 'The Lord of the servant shall come on a day when he does not expect it, and at an hour that he does not know, and he shall separate him and place his portion with the hypocrites,' that is, he shall be separated from holy priests and placed with the hypocrites, doubtless those who conceal much evil beneath a veil of priesthood. 'There where there shall be a weeping and a gnashing of teeth,' 2 which frequently happens in this life because of the daily loss of the sons of mother church, or because of defections from the kingdom of heaven. But let us see what a true disciple of Christ exhorts, Paul the teacher of the Gentiles, who should be imitated by every teacher in the Church. 'Be imitators of me as I am of Christ,' 3 And then about such affairs in his first letter, 'Because when they knew God, they did they give Him glory as God or thanks, but they became vain in their reasoning and their senseless hearts were blinded, and proclaiming themselves wise they became fools.' 4 Although this appears to be addressed to the Gentiles, observe that it will also fittingly apply to the priests and people of this time. Saint Gildas The Wise, On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain 1 Mt 23.2, Mt 23.13 2 Mt 24.49, 24.50-51 3 1 Cor 11.1 4 Rom 1.21-22

Teaching And Returning

Καὶ συνάγονται οἱ ἀπόστολοι πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν, καὶ ἀπήγγειλαν αὐτῷ πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησαν καὶ ὅσα ἐδίδαξαν. Kαὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς: δεῦτε ὑμεῖς αὐτοὶ κατ' ἰδίαν εἰς ἔρημον τόπον καὶ ἀναπαύσασθε ὀλίγον. ἦσαν γὰρ οἱ ἐρχόμενοι καὶ οἱ ὑπάγοντες πολλοί, καὶ οὐδὲ φαγεῖν εὐκαίρουν. καὶ ἀπῆλθον ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ εἰς ἔρημον τόπον κατ' ἰδίαν. Kαὶ εἶδον αὐτοὺς ὑπάγοντας καὶ ἐπέγνωσαν πολλοί, καὶ πεζῇ ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν πόλεων συνέδραμον ἐκεῖ καὶ προῆλθον αὐτούς. Μεθὸ ἐκήρυξαν οἱ ἀπόστολοι, συνάγονται πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν· ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς μανθάνωμεν, ἐπειδὰν προβληθῶμεν εἰς διακονίαν τινὰ, μὴ ἀφηνιάζειν καὶ κατεπαίρεσθαι τοῦ προβαλλομένου, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνον εἰδέναι κεφαλὴν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπισρέθειν, καὶ ἀπαγγέλλειν αὐτῷ ὅσα ἤ ἐποιήσαμεν ἤ ἐδιδάξαμεν· χρὴ γὰρ μὴ μόνον διδάσκειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ποιεῖν· ἀναπαύει δὲ ὁ Χριστὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς, ἵνα πάλιν μάθωσιν οἱ προεστῶτες, τοὺς κοπιῶντας ἔν τε λόγῷ καὶ διασκαλίᾳ ἀναπαύσεως ἁξιοῦν, καὶ μὴ ἀεὶ κατατείνειν αὐτοὺς τοῖς πόνοις· εἰς ἔρημον δὲ τόπον ἀναχωρῶν, διὰ τὸ ἀφίλόδοξον, ὅμως οὐδ' ἐνταῦθα λανθάνει τοὺς ζητοῦντας αὐτόν. Ἀλλὰ τοσοῦτον ἐγρηγόρουν, ἵνα μὴ διαφύγῃ αὐτοὺς, ὥστε καὶ προῆθλον αὐτοὺς, τουτέστι, προέφθασαν οἱ ὄχλοι τοὺς ἀποστόλους, καὶ ἀπῆλθον εἰς τόν τόπον ἔνθα ἔμελλεν ἀναπαυθῆναι ὁ Ἰησοῦς. Οὕτως οὖν καὶ σὺ προλάμβανε τὸν᾽Ιησοῦν, μὴ ἀναμένων, ἵνα ἐκεῖνός σε προσκαλέσηται. Ἀλλὰ προτρέχων, καὶ μᾶλλον σὺ πρόφθὰνων ἐκεῖνον. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατά Μάρκον, Κεφαλ. Ϛ’ Source: Migne PG 123.553b-d

And the Apostles gathered to Jesus, and they told Him everything, even what they have done and what they had taught. And He said to them, 'Come, let us go alone into a desert place and rest there a little while.' For many would come and go and they did not have food. And they sailed off alone to a desert place, but many saw them going, and many knew Him, and on foot, from every city, they hurried there and came before them. 1 After the Apostles preached they came to Jesus, whence we should also learn that after we have been sent out on ministry we should not cut ourselves off utterly from Him who sent us out and be as rebels against Him, but knowing Him to be the head, return to Him, declaring to Him everything which we have taught and done. For it is not enough to teach but even to act. And Christ made the disciples rest so that they might understand what was said before, that they who labour in word and teaching, are worthy of receiving rest, and should not always be intent on work. He withdrew to a deserted place so that he might ward off vainglory, but He was not trying to hide in that place from those who sought Him. Therefore the people observing it, lest He should be separated from them, even they came to them, that is, the crowds came before the Apostles, going out to the place to which Christ was withdrawing. Thus even you should come before Christ and not delay until He calls. But make haste before that to come to Him. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Mark, Chapter 6 1 Mk 6.30-33

Teaching And Vice

Qui desperantes semetipsos tradiderunt impudicitiae, in opertionem omnis immunditae et avartiae... De gentibus loquitur, quibus caecatum cor est, et nihil sperant, id est mortales se et fatentur et probant; neque de aeternitate sua aliquid credunt: ac propterea vitam mundi, quasi ea frui volentes, et rapiunt, et libidinose vivunt, et cum impudicitia exercentes, ut credunt, voluptatem habendi cupidi, et in usu vivendi ducti omnibus turpissimis voluptatibus. Vos autem non ita didicistis Christum; si tamen audistis illum et in illo credidistis. Contra Ephesios docet non ita vivere ut gentes: quippe qui didicerint Christum: quia Christus ut immortales nos faceret, egit mysterium, praesto in carne fuit, docui ut cognosceremus patrem, et in ipsum fidem haberemus, et est aeternitas nobis viventibus secundum ejus mandata. Vos igitur non ita didicistis, ut gentes: quippe quia vos Christum audistis, si tamen audistis illum, id est intellexistis et credidistis. Hoc est enim quod adjunxit, qui in illum credidistis: quia, ut diximus et dicimus semper, credere in Christum, immortalitem consequi est, et vitam aeternam mereri; ipse enim est vita, ipse lux, ipse aeternitas, ipse qui mortem vincit et vicit, et nobis vicit, per mysterium quod implevit. Victorinus Afrus, In Epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios, Liber Secundus, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 8.1277b-c

Who despairing of themselves have given themselves over to shamelessness, to the doing of every vile thing, and avarice... 1 He speaks of the Gentiles, whose hearts are blind, and who hope for nothing, for they confess themselves to be mortal and act on it, believing nothing of eternal things, and thus they seize on the world's life as something to be enjoyed, and they live lustfully and exert themselves in shamelessness, so that, as they think, they will have the joy of their desires, and by such a way of life they have been led away into every sort of vile pleasure. You did not learn this from Christ, if indeed you have listened to Him and believed in Him... Opposing the Ephesians, he teaches that they should not live like the Gentiles, certainly if they have learnt from Christ, because Christ, so that He might make us immortal, worked a mystery, coming forth in the flesh and teaching so that we might come to know the Father and have faith in Him, and it is eternity for us to live according to His commands. You, therefore, did not have the learning of the Gentiles, but certainly you listened to Christ, if indeed 'you listened to Him,' that is, if you understood and believed. For this is what he adds, you who 'believed in Him,' so that as we have said, and as we shall always say, to believe in Christ achieves immortality, and it merits eternal life, for He is the life and the light and eternity, He is the one who conquers death and conquered it, and conquered for us, through the mystery which He fulfilled. Victorinus Afrus, On the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, Book Two, Chapter Four 1 Ephes 4.19

Teaching And Firmness

Διδαχαῖς ποικίλαις καὶ ξέναις μὴ παραφέρεσθε. Τὸ δὲ παραφέρεσθαι εἴρηται ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τῶν μαινομένων, τῶν τῇδε κὰκεῖσε περιφερομένων· ἤ τῶν εὐπαραφόρως ἐν ἴσῳ δόναξιν ἐς τὸ ἀεὶ προσωθοῦν εὐκόλως μετακλινομένων, καὶ μηδὲν βέδαιον ἐχόντων, καίτοι Παύλου μὲν διακεκραγότος· Ἐδραῖοι γίνεσθε, ἀμετακίνητοι. Αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ Δεσπότου τὸ λίαν εὐπάροιστον καὶ εὐδιαπτόητον τοῦ τρόπου τὴν ἀνωτάτω τοῖς ἔχουσι τιθέντος διαβολὴν, καὶ δίκην ὀρίζοντος τῇ νόσῳ τὴν ἀποστροφὴν. Ἔφη γὰρ ὧδε περὶ τινῶν· Ἠγάπησαν κινεῖν πόδας αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἐφείσαντο, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς οὐκ εὐδόκησεν ἐν αὐτοῖς. Τὸ γάρ τοι βεβαίως τε καὶ ἀκλινῶς ἰδρυμένον πρὸς πᾶν ὁτιοῦν τῶν τελούντων εἰς ὄνησιν, ἀσφαλές τε καὶ ἄσυλον· καλὸν γὰρ χάριτι βεβαιοῦσθαι τὴν καρδίαν, οὐ βρώμασιν, ἐν οἵς οὐκ ὠφελήθησαν οἱ περιπατήσαντες. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας,Εἰς τὴν πρὸς Ἑβραίους Ἐπιστολὴν, Ἐκλογαι Source: Migne PG 74.1000a-b

Do not be stolen away by various and strange teachings. 1 Stolen is used here as a metaphor for being taken away by madness, for he who is borne away by such things, or is easily disturbed by them, is always being bent like a reed by the power of their will and is never stable, concerning which Paul cries out: 'Be firm and immobile.' 2 And the Lord Himself says that those who have light and inconstant ways place a grave accusation against themselves, and He perceives it to be like the mania of a sickness, for concerning such folk he says, 'They love to move their feet and will not be still, they have not pleased the Lord.' 3 Thus what stands firmly and will not bend is useful in all things, and it is like a guard and a wall. 'For it is good to have the grace to be firm in one's heart, yet not with food, which has not profited those that walk so.' 1 Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Letter to Hebrews, Fragment 1 Heb 13.9 2 1 Cor 15.58 3 Jerem 14.10

Teaching And Deeds

Et stupebant in docrina ejus, quia in potestate erat sermo ipsius... Sermo doctoris in potestate fit, cum ea quae docet operatur. Nam qui actis ipse sua dicta destruit, contemnitur. Cui contra doctorem instituens Apostolus ait: Nemo adolescentiam tuam contemnat. Singulariter autem Dominus ac principaliter solus ex potestate bona locutus est, quia ex infirmitate mala nulla commisit. Ex divinitatis quippe potentia habuit id quod nobis per humanitatis suae innocentiam ministravit. Aliter in potestate erat sermo ipsius, sive ut alius evangelista dicit, erat docens eos sicut potestatem habens, et non sicut scribae. Quoniam scribae quae per legem didicerant praecepta, populis dabant. Ipse vero quasi auctor impletorque legis, vel mutando, vel augendo quae minus videbantur, libere agendo substituit. Sanctus Beda, In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, Liber II, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 92.379a-b

And they were astonished at His teaching, because there was power in His words... 1 The speech of a teacher has power when he does those things he teaches. For he is scorned who destroys what he has said with his deeds. Against which imposition of such a teacher the Apostle says, 'Do not let anyone scorn your youth.' 2 Only the Lord especially and principally spoke good things from power, because He did no evil from weakness. Certainly from the power of the Divinity He had with which He served us through the innocence of humanity. Otherwise, 'there was power in His words,' because as another Evangelist says, 'He was teaching them as one having power, and not like the scribes,' 3 because the scribes learnt their teaching through the Law and gave it to the people, but He as the author and fulfiller of the Law with deeds openly altered it, either by changing it or supplying what seemed to be lacking. Saint Bede, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Luke, Book 2, Chapter 4 1 Lk 4.32 2 Tim 4.12 3 Mt 7.29

In Praise Of Friendship

In rebus humanis nihil dulcius amicitia invenitur, nihil sanctius appetitur, nihil fructuosius custoditur: habet enim fructum vitae quae nunc est et futurae. Ipsa propria suavitate virtutes alias condit, adversa temperat, prospera componit, tristiaque jucundat. Homo sine amico non habet, cui vitam et affectus suos communicet, cui conscientiae suae sinum aperiat, cui ad solatium suum aliquid de molestiis terrentibus evaporet. Solus est, qui sine amico est. Vere dicitur solus, quia si ceciderit, non habet sublevantem. E diverso quanta est jucunditas, quanta securitas, habere cum quo loquaris, ut tecum, cui cordis tui secreta committere audeas, quem in secretioribus tuis habeas ut teipsum, cui plena securitate reveles, quantum in studiis spiritualibus a teipso defeceris, aut profeceris apud Deum. Quid denique desiderabilius, aut dulcius, quam ut duorum tanta sit unio animorum, quod quum alter corripiatur ab altero, vel laudetur, nulla interveniat ira, nulla seditio, nulla inter eos formido criminis, adulationisve suspicio. Amicus, ait Sapiens, est medicamentum vitae. Optima enim medicina est homini homo, qui ejus remediatur adversis, qui ejus condescendit incommodis, qui gravia levigat, qui amici onera quasi juncto humero simul portat. Nec enim verus amicus impatientius propriam injuriam sustinet, quam amici. Verbum Philosophi est: Non aqua, non igne, non aere pluries utimur, quam amico. In omni actu, in omni studio, in rebus certis, in dubiis, in omni eventu, in secreto, in publico, in omni consultatione, domi et foris : et ut multa paucis includam, in omnibus, quae ad divina pertinent et humana, gratia se diligentium mutuo utilis invenitur. Audi Tullium: Tanta est, inquit, amicitiae virtus, quod ejus beneficio absentes amici sibi praesentes assistunt, egentes abundant, valent imbecilles, et quod mirabilius est, mortui vivunt. Demum amicitia est divitibus pro gloria, pro censu pauperibus; exulibus pro patria, imbecillibus pro virtute, pro medicina aegroto, mortuis pro vita. Et sicut idem Tullius aiebat, Solem videntur de mundo tollere, qui de vita hominum amicitiam tollunt. Amicitia, inquit idem, quaedam est vita hominum, sine qua nullum est humanae vitae solatium. Amicitia quidam gradus est hominibus ad Deum. Dilectione enim mediante homo Deo approximat, dum ex hominis amico Dei amicus efficitur. Audi Deum ad homines loquentem, quos in proximi dilectione firmaverat et dicentem : Jam non dicam vos servos, quia servus nescit, quid faciat Dominus ejus. Vos autem dixi amicos, quia omnia quaecunque audivi a Patre meo, nota feci vobis. Quas omnia, sicut plerique Sancti asserunt,in Dei proximique dilectione consistunt. Petrus Blenensis, De Amicitia Christiana, Cap. III, Quam dulcis, et quam fructuosa sit amicitia. Source: Migne PL 207.874c-875c

In human affairs nothing is found sweeter than friendship, nothing more holy is sought, nothing is more fruitfully guarded, for it is has reward for life both now and in the future. With its own sweetness it establishes other virtues, tempers adversity, moderates prosperity, gives cheer to sorrow. A man without a friend does not have one to whom he may communicate life and feelings, to whom he may open the lap of his conscience, in whom he might have comfort for dispelling his burdensome troubles. He is alone who lacks a friend. Truly it is said 'alone' because 'if he falls he has no one to lift him up.' 1 In contrast how much joy there is, how much security, to have someone to whom you may speak and with whom you may dare to commit the secrets of your heart, and with whom you may share your secrets as much as you do with yourself, and to whom you may speak in full confidence, as much of the spiritual desires which you lack as of your advance to God. What, then, is more desirable, or more sweet, or more durable than a union of souls, so that when the one is corrected by the other, or praised, no anger intervenes, nor discord, nor is there fear of any offence between them, nor is there any suspicion of flattery. 'A friend,' says Wisdom 'is the medicine of life.' 2 The best medicine for a man is a man, one who supplies remedies in adversity, who sympathises in difficulties, who eases burdens, who at the same time bears the troubles of a friend as if their shoulders were joined. For he is not a true friend who is more impatient in enduring his own injury than a friend's. The word of the Philosopher is: 'Neither water, nor fire, nor air, are so useful as friendship.' 3 In every act, every passion, in things doubtful and in things certain, in every event, in secret and in public, in every consultation, in the house and outside, and I include many things of little weight, in everything which pertains to Divine and human affairs, the grace of mutual love is found useful. Hear Cicero: 'So great is the virtue of friendship that with its help absent friends stand near and present. In poverty they are rich and in weakness strong, and what is more wonderful, they revive the dead. Finally friendship is glory for the rich, wealth for the poor, a homeland for exiles, strength for the powerless, medicine for the sick, life for the dead.' And likewise the same Cicero says: 'They seem to take the sun from the world, who take friendship from the life of men.' 'There is a certain friendship,' the same man says, 'which is the life of men, without which there is no comfort in life.' 4 Certainly friendship is a stairway from men to God. By the mediation of love a man draws near to God, when from being a friend of men he is made a friend of God. Hear God saying to men, those whom He fortified in the love of their neighbour: 'Now I shall not call you servants but friends, because a servant does not know what his Lord does. I call you friends, because everything which I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.' 5 Which everything, as most of the saints assert, consists in the love of God and neighbour. Peter of Blois, On Christian Friendship, Chapter 3, How sweet and fruitful friendship may be. 1 Eccl 4.10 2 Sirach 6.16 3 Cicero De Amicitia 22 4 Cicero De Amicitia 23, 47, 102 5 Jn 15.15

Perfect Joy

Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι, Κύριε, ἐν ὅλῃ καρ δίᾳ μου, διηγήσομαι πάντα τὰ θαυμάσιά σου. Εὐφρανθήσομαι καὶ ἀγαλλιάσομαι ἐν σοί· ψαλῶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου, Ὕψιστε. Τῶν τελείων ἴδιον τὸ πᾶσαν ἀνατιθέναι τῷ Θεῷ τὴν καρδίαν, καὶ πᾶσαν αὐτῷ καθιεροῦν τὴν διάνοιαν. Ἀγαπήσεις γὰρ, φησὶ, Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου. Ὁ δὲ μερίζων τοὺς λογισμοὺς εἰς μαμωνᾶν καὶ Θεὸν, εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ χρυσὸν, εἰς τὸν παρόντα καὶ τὸν μέλ λοντα βίον, οὐ δύναται ἀληθεύων λέγειν· Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι, Κύριε, ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ μου. Ὁ δὲ προφήτης πνευματικοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τὰ ἐσόμενα προ ϊδὼν, οὐκ ἐξομολογεῖται μόνον ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ διηγεῖται αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ θαυμάσια, κοινωνοὺς τοὺς ἀκούοντας τῆς ὑμνῳδίας ποιούμενος, καὶ βου λόμενος μόνον τὸν εὐεργέτην ὑμνεῖν· καὶ θυμη δίας ἀφορμὴν οὐ πλοῦτον ἔχειν καὶ δυναστείαν, οὐδὲ ὑγίειαν καὶ σώματος εὐεξίαν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν μνήμην. Εὐφρανθήσομαι γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ ἀγαλλιάσομαι ἐν σοί. Οὕτω καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· Ἐμνήσθην τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ηὐφράνθην. Καὶ ἑτέρωθι, Εὐφράνθητε ἐπὶ Κύριον, καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε δίκαιοι. Καὶ πάλιν· Εὐφρανθήτω καρδία ζητούντων τὸν Κύριον. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἑρμηνεία εἰς Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός Θ’ Source: Migne PG 80.921a-b

I shall confess to you, O Lord, with my whole heart, I shall speak of all your wonders. I shall rejoice and I shall exult in you, I shall sing to your name, O most High. 1 It is the property of perfect men to dedicate the whole heart to God and consecrate all the mind to Him: 'Love the Lord your God,' it is said, 'with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind.' 2 He who mixes thoughts of mammon and God, and Christ and gold, and this present life and the future life, he cannot truly say: 'I confess to you, O Lord, with my whole heart.' But foreseeing the future with spiritual eyes, the prophet not only confesses in his heart, but indeed speaks of all His wonders, making those who hear participants in the singing of the hymn, and wishing only the creator of blessings to be sung and to be the cause of joy, not wealth or power, or health, or the customary goods of the body, but only the contemplation of God. 'I shall rejoice,' he says, 'and I shall exult in you.' So elsewhere it is said, 'I was mindful of God and I was joyful.' And again, 'Rejoice in the Lord and exult, you righteous ones.' And again, 'Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.' 3 Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 9 1 Ps 9.2 2 Deut 6.5, Mt 22.37 3 Ps 76.3, Ps 21.11, Ps 104.3

Restoring Beauty

Ἰδοὺ εἶ καλή, ἡ πλησίον μου, ἰδοὺ εἶ καλή· ὀφθαλμοί σου περιστεραί. Παιδεύει δὲ διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων ὁ λόγος ταύτην εἶναι τοῦ κάλλους τὴν ἐπανάληψιν τῷ προσεγγίσαι πάλιν τῷ ἀληθινῷ κάλλει, οὗ ἀπεφοίτησε· φησὶ γὰρ Ἰδοὺ εἶ καλή, ἡ πλησίον μου· ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο πρότερον οὐκ ἦσθα καλή, διότι τοῦ ἀρχετύπου κάλλους ἀποξενωθεῖσα τῇ πονηρᾷ γειτνιάσει τῆς κακίας πρὸς τὸ εἰδεχθὲς ἠλλοιώθης. Tὸ δὲ λεγόμενον τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· δεκτικὴ τῶν κατὰ γνώμην ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη γέγονε φύσις καὶ πρὸς ὅπερ ἂν ἡ ῥοπὴ τῆς προαιρέσεως αὐτὴν ἄγῃ, κατ’ ἐκεῖνο καὶ ἀλλοιοῦται· τοῦ τε γὰρ θυμοῦ παραδεξαμένη τὸ πάθος θυμώδης γίνεται καὶ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐπικρατησάσης εἰς ἡδονὴν διαλύεται, πρὸς δειλίαν τε καὶ φόβον καὶ τὰ καθ’ ἕκαστον πάθη τῆς ῥοπῆς γενομένης τὰς ἑκάστου τῶν παθῶν μορφὰς ὑποδύεται, ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ ἐκ | τοῦ ἐναντίου τὸ μακρόθυμον, τὸ καθαρόν, τὸ εἰρηνικόν, τὸ ἀόργητον, τὸ ἄλυπον, τὸ εὐθαρσές, τὸ ἀπτόητον, πάντα ταῦτα ἐν ἑαυτῇ δεξαμένη ἑκάστου τούτων ἐπισημαίνει τὸν χαρακτῆρα τῇ καταστάσει τῆς ψυχῆς ἐν ἀταραξίᾳ γαληνιάζουσα. Συμβαίνει τοίνυν ἀμέσως πρὸς τὴν κακίαν τῆς ἀρετῆς διεστώσης μὴ δύνασθαι κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἀμφότερα τῷ ἑνὶ παραγίνεσθαι· ὁ γὰρ τοῦ σωφρονεῖν ἀποστὰς ἐν τῷ ἀκολάστῳ πάντως γίνεται βίῳ καὶ ὁ τὸν ἀκάθαρτον βδελυξάμενος βίον κατώρθωσεν ἐν τῇ ἀποστροφῇ τοῦ κακοῦ τὸ ἀμόλυντον. Oὕτω καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα· ὁ ταπεινοφρονῶν τῆς ὑπερηφανίας κεχώρισται καὶ ὁ διὰ τοῦ τύφου ἑαυτὸν ἐξογκώσας τὴν ταπεινοφροσύνην ἀπώσατο. Kαὶ τί χρὴ τὰ καθ’ ἕκαστον λέγοντα διατρίβειν, πῶς ἐπὶ τῶν ἀντικειμένων τῇ φύσει ἡ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀπουσία θέσις καὶ ὕπαρξις τοῦ ἑτέρου γίνεται; οὕτω τοίνυν ἐχούσης ἡμῶν τῆς προαιρέσεως, ὡς κατ’ ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν ὅπερ ἂν ἐθέλῃ τούτῳ συσχηματίζεσθαι, καλῶς φησι πρὸς τὴν ὡραϊσθεῖσαν ὁ λόγος, ὅτι ἀποστᾶσα μὲν τῆς τοῦ κακοῦ κοινωνίας ἐμοὶ προσήγγισας, πλησιάσασα δὲ τῷ ἀρχετύπῳ κάλλει καὶ αὐτὴ καλὴ γέγονας οἷόν τι κάτοπτρον τῷ ἐμῷ χαρακτῆρι ἐμμορφωθεῖσα· κατόπτρῳ γὰρ ἔοικεν ὡς ἀληθῶς τὸ ἀνθρώπινον κατὰ τὰς τῶν προαιρέσεων ἐμφάσεις μεταμορφούμενον· εἴ τε γὰρ πρὸς χρυσὸν ἴδοι, χρυσὸς φαίνεται καὶ τὰς ταύτης αὐγὰς τῆς ὕλης διὰ τῆς ἐμφάσεως δείκνυσιν, εἴ τέ τι τῶν εἰδεχθῶν ἐμφανείη, καὶ τούτου τὸ αἶσχος δι’ ὁμοιώσεως ἀπομάσσεται βάτραχόν τινα ἢ φρῦνον ἢ σκολόπενδραν ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν ἀηδῶν θεαμάτων τῷ οἰκείῳ εἴδει ὑποκρινόμενον, ᾧπερ ἂν τούτων εὑρεθῇ ἀντιπρόσωπον. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν κατὰ νώτου τὴν κακίαν ποιησαμένη ἡ κεκαθαρμένη ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου ψυχὴ τὸν ἡλιακὸν ἐν ἑαυτῇ κύκλον ἐδέξατο καὶ τῷ ὀφθέντι ἐν αὐτῇ φωτὶ συνεξέλαμψε, διὰ τοῦτό φησι πρὸς αὐτὴν ὁ λόγος, ὅτι γέγονας ἤδη καλὴ πλησιάσασα τῷ ἐμῷ φωτὶ διὰ τοῦ προσεγγισμοῦ τὴν κοινωνίαν ἐφελκυσαμένη τοῦ κάλλους. Ἰδοὺ εἶ καλή, φησίν, ἡ πλησίον μου. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων,  Ὁμιλία Δ’ Source: Migne PG 44.835c-d

Behold, you are beautiful, my close one, behold, you are beautiful: your eyes are doves. 1 By these expressions the Word teaches that the restoration of the soul's beauty consists in it once again drawing near to the true Beauty from which it departed. For he says, 'Behold, you are beautiful, my close one,' as if to declare, 'The reason why you were not beautiful before is that you had been estranged from the archetypal Beauty and had become ugly because of wrongful association with evil,' meaning that human nature which comes into being as something capable of becoming whatever it determines upon, and to what ever goal the drive of its choice leads it, undergoes alteration in accord with what it seeks. When it takes into itself the passion of anger, it becomes angry. When desire reigns, it is dissolved into pleasure. When impulse runs in the direction of cowardice and fear, it assumes the shape of the passions proper to each of these, just as, on the contrary, when it receives into itself greatness of spirit, purity, peacefulness, calmness of temper, harmlessness, courage, high-spiritedness, all of these, it shows the mark of each of them with the soul being established in peace and inner tranquility. Since virtue, then, is different from vice and there is no mean between them, virtue and vice cannot characterize one subject in the same respect at the same time. One who departs from temperance comes to live a thoroughly unbridled life, while one who abominates the impure life, in turning from evil, achieves a life that is undefiled. And so it is in all the other cases. He who possesses a humble mind is separated from arrogance, and he who is puffed up with affectation has driven out humility. And why should we waste time by mentioning each individual case, how, where naturally contrary qualities are concerned, the absence of the one must mean the establishment and presence of the other? Since, then, our choice is so constituted that we are disposed to take on the shape of whatever we want, the Word rightly says to the Bride in her new glory, 'You have drawn near to me since you have rejected the fellowship of evil, and in drawing near to the archetypal Beauty you too have become beautiful, informed like a mirror by my appearance.' For in that it is transformed in accordance with the reflections of its choices, the human person is rightly likened to a mirror. If it looks upon gold, it appears gold, and by way of reflection it gives off the beams of that substance; and if it has the look of some unseemly thing, it is imitating that ugliness with a likeness, playing, in its own appearance, the part of a frog or a toad or a millipede or some other unpleasant sight, whichever of them it reflects. Having, then, put evil behind it, the soul purified by the Word has taken the sun’s orb within itself and has been shining with the light that appears within it, because of which the Word says to her: 'You have already become beautiful by coming close to my light, since by your own drawing near you make yourself participate in the beautiful.' 'Behold,' he says, 'you are beautiful, my close one.' Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 4 1 Song 1.14

Love And Knowledge

Ὡς μὲν οὖν ἀντακολουθοῦσιν ἀλλήλαις αἱ ἀρεταί, τί χρὴ λέγειν, ἐπιδεδειγμένου ἤδη ὡς πίστις μὲν ἐπὶ μετανοίᾳ ἐλπίδι τε, εὐλάβεια δὲ ἐπὶ πίστει, καὶ ἡ ἐν τούτοις ἐπιμονή τε καὶ ἄσκησις ἅμα μαθήσει συμπεραιοῦται εἰς ἀγάπην, ἣ δὲ τῇ γνώσει τελειοῦται; ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἐξ ἀνάγκης παρασημειωτέον ὡς μόνον τὸ θεῖον σοφὸν εἶναι φύσει νοεῖσθαι χρή· διὸ καὶ ἡ σοφία δύναμις θεοῦ ἡ διδάξασα τὴν ἀλήθειαν· κἀνταῦθάπου εἴληπται ἡ τελείωσις τῆς γνώσεως. Φιλεῖ δὲ καὶ ἀγαπᾷ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὁ φιλόσοφος, ἐκ τοῦ θεράπων εἶναι γνήσιος δι' ἀγάπην ἤδη φίλος νομισθείς. Tαύτης δὲ ἀρχὴ τὸ θαυμάσαι τὰ πράγματα, ὡς Πλάτων ἐν Θεαιτήτῳ λέγει, καὶ Ματθίας ἐν ταῖς Παραδόσεσι παραινῶν θαύμασον τὰ παρόντα, βαθμὸν τοῦτον πρῶτον τῆς ἐπέκεινα γνώσεως ὑποτιθέμενος· ᾗ κἀν τῷ καθ' Ἑβραίους εὐαγγελίῳ "ὁ θαυμάσας βασιλεύσει" γέγραπται καὶ ὁ βασιλεύσας ἀναπαήσεται. Ἀδύνατον οὖν τὸν ἀμαθῆ, ἔστ' ἂν μένῃ ἀμαθής, φιλοσοφεῖν, τόν γε μὴ ἔννοιαν σοφίας εἰληφότα, φιλοσοφίας οὔσης ὀρέξεως τοῦ ὄντως ὄντος καὶ τῶν εἰς τοῦτο συντεινόντων μαθημάτων. Kἂν τὸ ποιεῖν καλῶς ᾖ τισιν ἐξησκημένον, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐπίστασθαι, ὡς χρηστέον καὶ ποιητέον, καὶ συνεκπονητέον, καθὸ καὶ ὁμοιοῦταί τις θεῷ, θεῷ λέγω τῷ σωτῆρι, θεραπεύων τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν διὰ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως λόγου, δι' οὗ καθορᾶται τὰ κατ' ἀλήθειαν καλὰ καὶ δίκαια. Eὐσέβεια ἔστι πρᾶξις ἑπομένη καὶ ἀκόλουθος θεῷ. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων, Λογος Β’, Κεφ' Θ’ Source: Migne PG 9.979c-981b

As, then, the virtues follow one another, what need to speak of that which has been demonstrated already, that faith hopes through repentance, and fear through faith, and patience and practice in these, along with learning, culminate in love, which is perfected by knowledge? But what one must note is that the Divine alone must be thought as wise by nature. Therefore wisdom also, which has taught the truth, is the power of God, and in it the perfection of knowledge is embraced. The philosopher loves and likes the truth, being now changed from being a true servant to being considered a friend on account of his love. 1 The beginning of knowledge is a wondering at objects, as Plato says is in his Theaetetus, 2 and Matthias exhorting us in the Traditions, says, 'Wonder at what is before you,' laying this down as the first foundation of further knowledge. So also in the Gospel to the Hebrews it is written, 'He that wonders shall reign, and he that has reigned shall rest.' It is impossible, therefore, for an ignorant man, while he remains ignorant, to philosophise, since he has no grasp of the idea of wisdom and philosophy, which is an effort to grasp that which truly is, and the studies that lead to that. Which is not done to make a man cultivated, but so that there might be knowledge of what is beneficial and how to act and labour, insofar as one has a likeness to God, I mean God the Saviour, by the service of the God of all things through the High Priest, the Word, through whom is seen what is in truth good and right, and piety is conduct suitable for following God. Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, Book 2, Chapter 9 1 Jn 15.15 2 Plato Theat 155d

Love And Wealth

Ideo dilexi mandata tua super aurum et topazion... Sed dilectio ea demum perfecta est, quae maxima est, et quae nulli comparatione similium coaequatur. Diligit autem mandata Dei super aurum et topazion. Humanus error pretiosius nihil auro et gemmis opinatur: et haec sunt quae hominum cupiditates dominatui pretii sui et honoris subdiderunt. Auro viris honestas pudicitiae venalis est: per gemmas vero humani corporis praestantior, ut putant, species ad naturae contumeliam expolitur. Et idcirco nihil habet sexus uterque pretiosius, dum viri posse omnia auro volunt, mulieres vero per gemmas fieri se existimant pulchriores. Praestat autem ut caeteris metallis aurum, ita et aliis lapidibus topazion. Est enim ipse rarissimus et speciosissimus omnium et maximus. In Thebaidis vero loco, cui Alabastra nomen est, reperiri solet. Hunc etiam ferunt saecularium gestorum litterae, in Topazo insula ab incolis ejus, id est Troglodytis Arabis inventum, ad matrem regis Aegypti Ptolemaei, sub quo Scripturae legis ex hebraeo in graecum translatae sunt, munere fuisse delatum. Continet autem ipse in se solus caeterarum gemmarum optimarum pretiosissimarumque speciem, et in uno illo diversissimorum colorum permixtio continetur. Super hunc igitur topazion, et super aurum mandata Dei Propheta dilexit, non terrenis se, sed coelestibus desideriis significans detineri. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXVIII Source: Migne PL 9.612c-613a

Therefore I have loved your commandments over gold and topaz... 1 This love which is greatest, and to which there is no comparison of likeness, is at last perfected when he loves the commandments of God above gold and topaz. Human error thinks that there is nothing more precious than gold and gems, and by the desire of men for the gain of these things they are dominated and by the glory of them they are conquered. By gold the uprightness of the modest man is corrupted, and it is ruined by jewels, the appearance of which they think makes the human body fairer to the scorn of nature. Therefore neither sex has anything so precious, for while men think they can do everything they wish with gold, yet women think that they are made more beautiful by jewels. As gold excels the other metals, so topaz does all other stones. It is most rare and the fairest of all of them and the greatest. It is usually found in the Thebaid, where it is named alabastra, and the books of worldly affairs tell us that it was discovered on the isle of Topaz by the inhabitants there, that is, certain cave dwelling Arabs, and sent as a gift to the mother of Ptolemy king of Egypt, the one in whose reign the Scripture of the Law was translated from Hebrew to Greek. 2 Alone among all other gems it has the most appealing and most precious appearance, having mixed in it the most diverse colours. Therefore it is above this topaz, and above gold, that the prophet loves the commandments of God, signifying that he does not dote on worldly things, but desires heavenly things. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 118 1 Ps 118.127 2 Ptolemy II Philadelphus

Love And Sacrifice

Ἐὰν οὖν προσφέρῃς τὸ δῶρόν σου ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον κἀκεῖ μνησθῇς ὅτι ὁ ἀδελφός σου ἔχει τι κατὰ σοῦ, ἄφες ἐκεῖ τὸ δῶρόν σου ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, καὶ ὕπαγε πρῶτον διαλλάγηθι τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου, καὶ τότε ἐλθὼν πρόσφερε τὸ δῶρόν σου. Καταφονεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τῆς οἰκείας τιμῆς, ἵνα ἡμεῖς μόνον ἀγαπῶμεν. Ἐαν δὲ ἔχῃ τι κατὰ σοῦ ὁ ἀδελφός σου εἰπὼν, οὐδὲν ἄλλο προσέθηκεν. Εἴτε γὰρ δικαίως εἴτε ἀδίκως ἔχει, διαλλάγηθι. Καὶ οὐκ εἴπεν, Ἐὰν ἔχῃς σὺ κατ' ἐκείνου, ἀλλ', Ἐὰν ἔχῃ ἐκεῖνος τι κατὰ σοῦ, σπούδασον αὐτὸν φιλιῶσαι σοι. Προστάττει δὲ ἀφεῖνα τὸ δῶρον, ἵνα σοι ἀνάγκην ἐνθήσῃ τοῦ καταλλαγηναι· σὺ γὰρ θέλων προσεϝεχθῆναι τὸ δῶρον σου, ἀναγκασθήσῃ διαλλαγῆναι. Ἄμα δὲ δεικνύει ὅτι ἡ αγάπη ἐστὶν ἡ ὄντως θυσία. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ E' Source: Migne PG 123.196b

If, then, you are offering a gift at the altar and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift. 1 God reproves our own self love in which we love ourselves alone. And when He says, 'If he has something against you,' He adds nothing more. For whether he has something rightly or wrongly against you, you should be reconciled. And He does not say, 'If you have something against him,' but, 'if he has something against you,' you must try to restore friendship. Thus He commands you to leave the gift and imposes on you the need for reconciliation, and contrary to your wish to offer the gift, He orders the restoration of friendship. And here He teaches that the true sacrifice is love. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.23-24

Virtue And Love

Et posui vectem et ostia, et dixi: Hucusque venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos. Quid enim moraliter per ostia, nisi virtutes; quid per vectem, nisi robur charitatis accipimus? Haec itaque ostia, scilicet operationum virtutes, mare saeviens dissipat, nisi eas ex occulto mentis opposita charitas astringat. Facile autem omne virtutum bonum tentatione cordis irruente destruitur, nisi ab intimis fixa charitate solidetur. Unde et Paulus in suis praedicationibus dum quaedam virtutum ostia mari tentationis opponeret, illico eisdem ostiis quasi robur vectis adiunxit, dicens: Super omnia autem haec charitatem habentes, quod est vinculum perfectionis. Perfectionis enim vinculum charitas dicitur, quia omne bonum quod agitur nimirum per illam ne pereat ligatur. A tentatore namque citius quodlibet opus evellitur, si solutum a vinculo charitatis invenitur; si autem mens Dei ac proximi dilectione constringitur, cum tentationum motus quaelibet ei iniusta suggesserint, obicem se illis ipsa dilectio opponit, et pravae suasionis undas virtutum ostiis ac vecte intimi amoris frangit. Quia ergo Dominus per inspiratae charitatis fortitudinem nascentia in corde vitia reprimit, insurgentis maris impetum per obserata claustra compescit. Ira fortasse in occulto exasperat; sed ne quies superna perdatur, perturbationi mentis officium linguae subtrahitur, ne usque ad vocem exeat, quod in sinu cordis tumultuosum sonat. Luxuria in occultis cogitationibus accenditur; sed ne supernam munditiam mens amittat, conceptae immunditiae ea quae famulari poterant membra castigat, ne usque ad corruptionem corporis exhalet fetor cordis. Avaritia stimulat; sed ne coelesti regno mens careat, intra claustra se parcimoniae contenta propriis ligat, ne in pravo se opere dilatet, et usque ad exteriores actus internae concupiscentiae aestus exsudet. Superbia inflat; sed ne veram celsitudinem amittat, considerando quisque quia pulvis est ab altitudine se conceptae elationis humiliat, certans nimirum ne quod in suggestione cogitationis tolerat in exercitationem operis erumpat. Bene ergo dicitur: Posui vectem et ostia, et dixi: Hucusque venies, et non procedes amplius, et hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos, quia dum electus quisque et tentatur vitiis, et tamen facere male suggesta renititur, quasi mare clausum tenetur. Quod etsi intus tumultuosis cogitationum fluctibus mentem percutit, statuta tamen bene vivendi littora non excedit. Quod mare quidem in tumore se erigit, sed dum fixa deliberatione cordis illiditur, fractum redit. Beatus igitur Iob ne sibi tribuat quod contra procellas cordis fortiter stat, voce divina audiat: Quis conclusit ostiis mare, quando erumpebat, quasi de vulva procedens, et caetera. Ac si ei aperte diceretur: Incassum te exterius in bonis operibus pensas, si non me interius, qui in te tentationis undas compesco, consideras. Ut enim tu fluctus ferre possis in opere, meae virtutis est, qui fluctus frango tentationis in corde. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Moralia, sive Expositio in Job, Liber XXVIII, Caput XXII Source: Migne PL 75.476a-478a

And I have set a bar and doors, and said, 'Only to here shall you come, and you shall not go any further, here you will break your swelling waves.' 1 What shall we understand morally by the doors but the virtues, and what by a bar but the strength of love? That is, these doors are the working of the virtues which the wild sea rends asunder unless the charity of the mind, secretly set against them, binds them together. For all the goodness of the virtues is easily destroyed by a temptation of the heart rushing upon them unless it is kept firmly rooted within by love. Whence in his preaching Paul was also opposing certain doors of virtues to the sea of temptation, and he immediately added to them, as it were, the strength of a bar, saying, 'But above all these things having love, which is the bond of perfection.' 2 Love is called the bond of perfection because every good deed which is done is doubtless fastened by it so that it does not perish. For any work is speedily plucked up by the tempter if it is found to lack the bond of love. But if a mind is constrained by the love of God and of neighbour, when the motions of temptations have suggested to it any wicked thoughts, this very love opposes itself to their advance, and by the gates of the virtues and the bar of inmost love breaks the waves of sinful persuasion. Because, then, by the strength of inspired love the Lord restrains the sins which spring up in the heart, so He checks the onset of the rising sea by setting against it barred doors. It may happen that anger exasperates within, but that heavenly peace may not be lost the aid of the tongue is not lent to the agitation of the mind, whence that which sounds tumultuously in the recesses of the heart does not vent itself in words. Lust is kindled in the secret thoughts, but that it lose not its heavenly purity, the mind chastens those limbs which could help to augment the uncleanness conceived within, lest the filthiness of the heart should be exhaled to the corruption of the body. Avarice besets, but that it might not lose not the kingdom of heaven, the mind, contented with its own lot, confines itself within the bounds of parsimony, lest it should break out in wicked deeds, and lest the heat of inward desire should ooze forth into outward acts. Pride puffs up a man, but that he might not lose his true dignity, he brings himself down from the loftiness of his conceived pride by considering that he is dust, doubtless striving so that what he endures by the prompting of thought may not burst forth into outward acts. Well, then, it is said, 'I have set a bar and doors, and to here you shall come, and you shall not go any further, here you shall break your swelling waves,' because when any of the elect are assaulted by sin, yet there is a refusal to act upon evil suggestions, and thus the sea, as it were, is kept within bounds. And though it lashes the mind within with the tumultuous waves of thoughts, yet it does not pass over the appointed bounds of living well. Indeed this sea swells up, but when it dashes against the firm determination of the heart, it is broken and withdraws. Therefore the blessed Job, so that he might not ascribe his standing firmly against the storms of his heart to himself, hears the Divine voice; 'Who shut up the sea with doors, when it was breaking forth as if proceeding from the womb?' and the rest, 3 as if it were plainly said to him, 'In vain you think well of yourself because of exterior good deeds, if you do not consider me within who still the waves of temptation in you. For that you can withstand the waves is by my strength who break the waves of temptation in the heart.' Saint Gregory the Great, Moralia, or Commentary on Job, Book 28, Chapter 22 1 Job 38.10-11 2 Colos 3.14 3 Job 38.8

The Eye And Love

Lucerna corporis tui est oculus tuus... Prosequitur autem munditiam cordis nostri, et de exteriore docet metaphorice interioris hominis officium. Quia sicut oculis istis carnalibus omnia corporis membra ordinate ad operationem diriguntur: ita intentione mentis et luce fidei cuncta virtutum genera, ut lucidum corpus perficiant, illustrantur. Ubi non nisi unus et simplex quaeritur oculus, de quo sponsus in Canticis: Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea, vulnerasti cor meum in uno oculorum tuorum, ubi purissimum cordis ejus lumen expressit. Quia licet plura virtutum genera hinc inde resplendeant, ex uno fidei, qui per charitatem operatur, oculo vulneratur Christus amore dilectionis: nam lucerna lumen in testa est, sic et charitas amoris Christi in fide lucet. Cum autem fides cessaverit, tantum nobis sola charitas. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Liber IV Caput VI Source: Migne PL 120.305b-c

Your eye is the lamp of your body... 1 He seeks the purity of our hearts and by an exterior metaphor teaches the duty of the interior man. Because all the members of the body are directed in their order about their work by bodily eyes, so by the intent of the mind and the light of faith all the types of the virtues shine to fashion a bright body. When nothing is sought but the single and pure eye, concerning which the spouse says in the Song of Songs: 'You have wounded my heart, my sister, you have wounded my heart with one of your eyes,' 2 there the pure light of her heart is expressed. But because there are many types of virtue that may shine forth from there, it is the one that is faith, which works through love, 3 which is the eye by which Christ is wounded with love, for as the light in the earthen vessel is the lamp, so the charity of the love of Christ shines forth in faith. And for us there will only be love when faith has come to an end. 4 Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 4 Chapter 6 1 Mt 6.22 2 Song 4.9 3 Galat 5.6 4 1 Cor 13.8

Love, Life and Eternity

Σαφῶς ἐν τούτοις παρίσταται ἡ κατὰ τὸν δημιουργὸν τοῦ κόσμου Θεὸν καὶ τὰς αὐτοῦ Γραφὰς κηρυσσομένη ζωὴ αἰώνιος, ἤν κὶα ὁ Σωτὴρ καταγγέλλει. Πυθομένου οὖν τοῦ νομικοῦ· Τί ποιήσας ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω; ἐπὶ τὸν νόμον ἀναπέμπει, ἐκεῖθεν συνάγῃ ἐντολὰς τὰς προσαγούσας τὸν ποιοῦντα αὐτὰς τῇ αἰωνίῳ ζωῇ. Μαρτυρεῖ γοῦν τῷ εἰληθότι ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ Δευτρονομίου τὸ Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου· ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Λευῖτικοῦ τὸ, Τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτὸν, Ὁρθῶς ἀπεκρίθης, καὶ προστίθησι· Τοῦτο ποίει, καὶ ζήσῃ, δηλονότι τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον, περὶ ἦς κάκεῖνός τε ἐπύθετο, καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ διδάσκει. Ταῦτα δὲ εἴρηται πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ Οὐαλεντίνου, καὶ Βασιλίδου, καὶ τούς ἀπὸ Μαρκίωνος. Ἔχουσι γὰρ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰς λέξεις ἐν τῷ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς Εὐαγγελίῳ· καὶ φήσομεν πρὸς αὐτούς· Ὁ μαρτυρήσας τῷ, ὅτι Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου, τὴν ἐντολὴν ἀπὸ Νόμου εἰρηκότι, οὐ παρὰ τινος ἄλλου ἤ του δυμιουργοῦ εἰρημένην, καὶ φήσας ἐπὶ τούτοις αὐτῷ, Ὀρθῶς ἀπεκρίθης, τί ἄλλὸ βούλεται ἡμᾶς πράττειν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ζῆσαι τὴν αἰώνιον ζωὴν, ἤ ἀγαπᾷν τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν ἐν νομῳ καὶ προφήταις, ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ; Ὁ Σωτὴρ δὲ ψοῦν ἀπεφήνατο περὶ τῶν δύο ἐντολῶν λέγων· Καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς ὅλος ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται κρέμανται. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Λουκαν Ἐπαγγελιον Source : Migne PG 13.1904c-d

According to God the creator of the world and the things preached in the Scriptures and as the Saviour declares, eternal life is manifestly offered in these things, whence being questioned by the lawyer, 'What shall I do to have eternal life,' 1 He directs him to the Law, there to gather from the commandments what shall grant eternal life. He gives witness, therefore, to that which is found in Deuteronomy: 'Love the Lord your God,' and in Leviticus: 'Love your neighbour as yourself,' 2 saying, 'You have answered correctly,' then adding, 'Do this and live,' that is, the life that is eternal, about which the man questioned Him, and the Saviour taught. And these things said are opposed to the sectarians of Valentinus and Basilides and Marcion, for they have these same words in their own Gospel, and we say to them, the commandment 'Love the Lord your God,' is quoted from the Law and He does not commend it as anything else but as something said by the Creator, and therefore He says, 'You have answered correctly,' because what else does He wish us to do so that we might live the eternal life but to love God with the whole heart, which is likewise found in the Law and in the prophets? Then the Saviour gives His judgement regarding these two commandments, 'And from these hang all the Law and the prophets.' 3 Origen, On the Gospel of St Luke, Fragment from the Orations of Macarius Chrysocephalus on Luke 1 Lk 10.25 2 Deut 6.5, Levit 19.18 3 Mt 22.40

Love And Enemies

Ecce Dominus usque ad inimicos caritatem jubet extendi, et usque ad persecutores Christiani cordis benevolentiam dilatari. Et quae merces operum tantorum dabitur? vel quod munus praecepto huic obedientibus confertur? Ipse demonstret a se praeparatam caritati mercedem, qui per Spiritum sanctum gratis ipsam dignatur infundere caritatem: ipse nobis dicat quid pro caritate redditurus sit dignis, qui eamdem caritatem donare dignetur indignis. Dicat igitur Dominus, dicat, et proprio sermone magnitudinem nobis suae promissionis ostendat: Ut sitis, inquit, filii Patris vestri qui in coelis est. Cum enim diligendos praeciperet inimicos, amarum forsitan erat quod audienti jubebatur: sit, quaeso, dulce quod obedienti promittitur. Teneatur ergo dulcedinis hujus in corde suavitas, et amaritudinis illius superabitur difficultas. Qui enim dilexerint inimicos suos, et benefecerint eis qui eos oderunt, filii Dei erunt. Sanctus Fulgentius Ruspensis, Sermo V, De caritate Dei ac proximi Source: Migne PL 65.739b-c

Behold, the Lord commands that our love should extend to enemies, and that the heart of the Christian should reach out even to those who are persecutors. 1 And what is the reward that shall be given for such a great work? Or what gift shall be conferred on those who are obedient to this command? He in Himself has shown the reward prepared for love, which is that a man is made worthy to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He shall tell us what is worthy to be returned for love, He who gives that same love to those unworthy. So the Lord shall say, and with His own show us the greatness of His promise: 'That you be sons of your Father who is in heaven.' 1 Perhaps in this commanding of us to love our enemies, that which was commanded was bitter to those who heard it. But I think that what is promised to those who obey is sweet. Therefore let the sweetness of this delight be held in the heart, and it shall overcome the bitterness of all difficulties. They who have loved their enemies and have done well to those who hate them, they shall be sons of God. Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, from Sermon 5, On Love of God and One's Neighbour 1 Mt 5.44 2 Mt 5.45

Lovers And Beloveds

Indica mihi quem diligit anima mea.... Alter est dilectus animae et dilector animae; alter dilectus carnis et dilector carnis. Christus dilectus animae est et dilector. Mundus dilectus carnis est et dilector. Dilector qui diligit; dilectus qui diligitur. In hoc probatur quod Christus dilector animae est, quia in oculis ejus nihil interest qualis species carnis, ubi anima pulchra est. Dilectus autem animae ideo ipse est, quia in perfruendo ipso anima delectatur. Tale etenim bonum est sapientia, quo perfrui nisi rationalis natura non potest. Sicut caro mundo perfruitur et delectatur, et oculus carnis hoc diligit quod capit; et qui amat speciem, amat et illa quae speciem commendant. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I, Tit CXXXI, De dilectore et dilecto duplici Source: Migne PL 177.549b-c

Show me the one whom my soul loves... 1 The beloved of the soul and the lover of the soul is one thing, and the beloved of the flesh and the lover of the flesh is another. Christ is the beloved of the soul and the lover. The world is the beloved of the flesh and its lover. The lover is he who loves, the beloved what is loved. In this it is proved that Christ is the lover of the soul, because in His eyes there is no value in the state of the flesh when the soul is beautiful. And He is the beloved of the soul because in Him the soul delights to have joy. Such a good is wisdom, which is enjoyed only if a rational nature is present. And the flesh takes joy in the world and it is charmed, and the eye of the flesh loves what it grasps, and he who loves appearance, loves those things which commend appearance. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chapter 131, On The Two Types of Lover And Beloved 1 Song 1.6

Ordered And Disordered Love

Ordinate in me charitatem... Eleganter locutus est, ordinate, plurimorum quippe inordinata est charitas; quando in primo loco debent diligere, diligunt in secundo: quod in secundo, diligunt in primo: et quod oportet amare quarto, amant tertio: et rursus tertium in quarto, et est in plerisque charitatis ordo perversus. Sanctorum vero charitas ordinata est. Volo ad intelligendum hoc quod dictum est, ordinate in me charitatem, aliqua exempla replicare. Te vult divinus sermo diligere patrem, filium, filiam; vult te sermo divinus diligere Christum. Nec dicit tibi, ne diligas liberos, ne parentibus charitate jungaris. Sed quid dicit? Ne inordinatam habeas charitatem, ne primum patrem, aut matrem, deinde me diligas: ne filii et filiae plus quam mei charitate tenearis. Qui amat patrem aut matrem super me, non est me dignus: qui amat filium aut filiam super me, non est me dignus. Recole conscientiam tuam de patris, matris, fratrisve affectu, et considera qualem circa sermonem Dei et Jesu habeas charitatem: statim deprehendes magis te filium et filiam diligere, quam Verbum: magis te parentes amare, quam Christum. Quis, putas, ita proficit ex nobis, ut praecipuam et primam inter omnes sermones Dei habeat charitatem, qui in secundo loco liberos ponat? Juxta hunc modum, ama uxorem tuam. Nullus quippe aliquando suam carnem odio habuit, sed amat ut carnem. Et erunt, inquit, duo in carne una, et non in uno spiritu. Ama et Deum; sed ama illum, non ut carnem et sanguinem, sed ut spiritum. Qui enim adhaeret Deo, unus spiritus est. Igitur ordinata est charitas in perfectis. Ut autem post Deum etiam inter nos ordo ponatur, primum mandatum est, ut diligamus parentes: secundum, ut filios: tertium, ut domesticos nostros. Si autem filius malus est, et domesticus bonus: domesticus in charitate filii collocetur. Et ita fiet, ut sanctorum ordinata sit charitas. Magister quoque et Dominus noster in Evangelio praecepta de charitate constituens, ad uniuscujusque dilectionem proprium aliquid apposuit, et dedit intelligentiam ordinis his qui possunt audire Scripturam dicentem: Ordinate in me charitatem. Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota mente tua, et ex tota anima tua, et ex tota virtute tua. Diliges proximum tuum, sicut teipsum: non proximum ex toto corde, ex tota anima, et ex tota virtute, et ex tota mente. Rursus, inquit: Diligite inimicos vestros: et non apposuit, ex toto corde. Non est inordinatus sermo divinus, nec impossibilia praecipit, nec dicit: diligite inimicos vestros ut vosmetipsos: sed tantum, diligite inimicos vestros; sufficit eis, quod eos diligimus, et odio non habemus. Proximum vero, ut teipsum. Porro Deum ex toto corde, et ex tota anima, et ex tota mente, et ex tota virtute. Si haec intellexeris, et intellecta compleveris, fecisti quod sponsi sermone praecipitur: Introducite me in domum vini, ordinate in me. charitatem. Origenes, In Canticum Canticorum Homilia II, Interprete Divo Hieronymo Source: Migne PG 13.53b-c

Order love in me... 1 It is spoken elegantly, in order, for certainly love is disordered in many, when what they should love first they love second, and what they should second they love first, and what they should love fourth, they love third, and again what they should love third they love fourth, for in most the order of love has been perverted. But the love of those who are holy is ordered. I wish this which is said, 'Order love in me,' to be understood by turning back to a certain example. The Divine word wishes you to love a father, a son, a daughter, and the Divine word wishes you to love Christ. It is not said to you, 'Do not love your children,' nor 'Do not be attached to your parents by love.' But what is said? That love should not be disordered so that you love your father and mother first and then me. Do not prefer the love of your son or daughter before me, for it is not worthy of me. 'He who loves his father and mother before me is not worthy of me. He who loves his son and daughter before me is not worthy of me.' 2 Review your conscience regarding the affection you have for your father and mother and family, and consider what sort of love you have for Jesus and the word of God. Suddenly you grasp that you love your sons and daughter more than the Word. You love your parents more than Christ. Who do you think it helps among us that love is held to be special and primary among all the words of God, which put offspring in second place? In this way love your wife. Since no one has hatred for his own flesh but he loves it as flesh. 3 'And they shall be two in one flesh,'  He says, 4 and yet not in one spirit. Love God, but do not love him as flesh and blood, but as spirit. For he who adheres to God is one spirit. This is how love is ordered in those who are perfect. Thus our own are placed in order after God. First is the commandment that we love parents, secondly our children, thirdly our household. But if a son is wicked and a slave good, the slave is placed into the love of a son. And that it should be, so it is that love is ordered in those who are holy. In the Gospel our teacher and Lord sets down a precept concerning love, that each love be applied appropriately, and He gives the reason for this order to those who are able to the hear the Scripture saying: 'Order love in me.' 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and with all your soul and with all your strength. Love your neighbour as yourself.' 5 But not your neighbour with all your heart and all your mind and with all your soul and all your strength. Again He says, 'Love your enemies,' 6 but does not add 'with all your heart.' There is no disorder in the Divine speech, nor does it teach impossible things, nor does it say, 'Love your enemies as yourself,' but only, 'Love your enemies,' It is enough for them that we love them and have no hate for them. A neighbour, however, is to be loved as oneself. And God is to be loved with the whole heart, and with the whole soul, and with the whole mind, and with all one's strength. If you understand this and have a full understanding, you will do what word of the spouse commands: 'Bring me into the house of wine, order love in me.' Origen, Commentary On The Song of Songs, from Homily 2, translated by Saint Jerome 1 Song 2.4 2 Mt 10.37 3 Ephes 5.29 4 Gen 2.24 5 Deut 6, Mt 12, Mk 12, Lk 10 6 Lk 56.35

More Love

De affectione autem fraternitatis non habemus necessitatem scribendi vobis; ipsi enim a Deo edocti estis, ad hoc ut vos invicem diligati. Nam et hoc facitis in omnes fratres per universam Macedoniam. Etiam hoc cum facere illos laudat, commonet tamen ut propensius id agant; quos enim ab ipso Deo doctos dicit, promptiores esse debere in fraterna dilectione significat. Propter multa enim charitatem Deus misertus est nostri, cujus imitatores effecti, non immerito adoptatos nos ostendimus a Deo in filios. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam ad Thessalonicenses Primam, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 17.449b

But about fraternal love we have no need to write to you, you who have been taught by God Himself in this, that you love one another, for even this you do to all the brothers throughout the whole of Macedonia. 1 Even when he praises those who do this, he yet exhorts them to be more eager in doing it, which means that those whom he says have been taught by God should be most intent in the loving of brothers. For on account of much love God has been merciful to us, of whom being made imitators, we show that we are not unworthy of being adopted as sons of God. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The First Letter of Saint Paul To The Thessalonians, Chapter 4 1 1 Thes 4.9-10

Fraternal Love

Consimiliter sunt ammonedni homines, ut habeant benivolum affectum ad homines qui sunt sibi colligati naturali colligatione vel affinitate, quia tales dicuntur fratres in scripturis. Quatuor enim modis dicuntur fratres, ut ait papam, scilicet natura, ut Esau et Iacob, gente, ut omnes Iudei, cognatione, ut Abraham et Loth, affectu, et hoc vel speciali quo omnes Christiani dicuntur fratres, vel communi quo omnes homines ex uno patre nati. Ad omnes ergo qui sunt colligati cognatione, amor ordinatus debet extendi. Et si dicat salvator, Luce xviii: Qui non odit patrem aut matrem et cetera, non potest esse meus discipulus. Non prohibet amorem naturalem parentum et cognatorum, sed carnalem quo impeditur amor divinus, prout exponit Augustinus episola xxii. Unde et antiqui erant affectuosi sicut Abraham et Loth quem liberavit ab hostibus, Genesis xiii. Et Laban ad Iacob quando audivit eum advenisse, Genesis xxviii. Et ideo coniugium institutum est fieri inter extraneos inter quos amor et caritas extendatur et dilatetur ubi amor naturalis minus servet secundum Augustinus xv De civitate dei capitulo xvi. ubi loquitor bene de ista materia: Predictos igitur debet predictor ammonere ut habeant se vicissini sicut debent se habere, et de talibus cum eisdem conferre. Johannes Gallensis, Communiloquium sive Summa Collationum, Pars secunda, Distinctio tercia, secunde partis, Capitulum tercium, De amore ad consanguineos Source: here, p107

Similarly men should be exhorted to be of good will to men who are bound to them by natural bonds or affinity, because such brothers are spoken of in Scripture. Men are brothers in four ways, by a father, as it is according to nature, as with Esau and Jacob, by a people, as with all the Jews, by kinship, as Abraham and Lot, and by love, which is that by which all Christians are especially called brothers, or by that shared commonness of all men who are born from the one Father. Therefore to all those who are bound by family relationship, an orderly love should be extended. And if the Saviour says in the eighteenth chapter of Like, 'He who does not hate father or mother, ' and the rest, 'cannot be my disciple,' 1 this does not prohibit the natural love of parents and relations, but rather anything carnal that would be an obstacle to Divine love, as Augustine explains in his twelfth letter. Whence the men of old were affectionate, as when Abraham freed Lot from his enemies in the thirteenth chapter of Genesis. And as Laban was when he heard Jacob had arrived in the twenty eighth chapter of Genesis. 2 Therefore marriage was instituted among those more distant from us, so that love and charity might increase and expand where natural love is lacking, and should have our care, according to Augustine in the fifteenth book of the city of God, chapter sixteen, where he speaks well about this matter. Therefore let the preacher admonish men to have as much love for their neighbours as they have for themselves, and treat them as they would themselves. 3 John of Wales, The Communiloquium, Second Part, Second Part of the Third Distinction, Third Chapter, On Love of Relations. 1 Lk 14.26 2 Gen 15.8-16, Gen 29.12-14 3 Mk 12.31, Levit 19.18

The Ways Of Brothers

Fratres enim sumus... Tribus enim modis in Scriptura sancta fratres vocantur: natura, sicut Jacob et Isaac: cognatione, sicut Abraham et Lot; Lot enim filius fuerat fratris sui Aran: gente, sicut omnes Judaei fratres dicuntur, dicente lege: Si attenuatus frater tuus Hebraeus vendiderit se tibi. Et attendendum quanta cura concordiae sancto viro fuerit propter quam custodiendam optionem dedit Lot, ut aut ipse pergeret illo remanente aut certe, si ipse alibi vellet recedere, ipse ibi maneret. Remigius Antissiodorensis, Commentarius In Genesim, Caput XIII Source: Migne PL 131.83b

For we are brothers... 1 Brothers are spoken of in three ways in Sacred Scripture: by nature, as Jacob and Isaac; by relation, as Abraham and Lot, for Lot was the son of his brother Aran; and by people, as all the Jews are brothers, with the law saying: 'If your Hebrew brother falls into poverty and sells himself to you...' 2 And let it be noted how much care there is in this holy man for peace, because of which he gives the choice to Lot, that either he will go and Lot will remain, or if Lot wishes to go elsewhere, he will remain. Remigius of Auxerre, Commentary On Genesis, Chapter 13 1 Gen 13.8 2 Levit 25.23

Care And Correction

Quod si emendare neglegis cum videas emendandum, adversus caritatem facis: si autem tibi emendandus propterea non videtur, quia putas eum recte ista sensisse; adversus veritatem sapis. Et ideo ille melior, qui emendari est paratior, si non defuerit emendator, quam tu, si vel sciens irridenter contemnis errantem, vel nesciens pariter sectaris errorem. Omnia itaque in eisdem libris ad te scriptis et tibi traditis sobrie vigilanterque considera, et plura quam ego invenies fortasse culpanda. Et quaecumque ibi sunt approbanda atque laudanda, si quid in eis revera forsitan ignorabas, atque isto disserente didicisti, evidenter profitere quid illud sit; ut de hoc te gratias egisse, non de his quae illic improbanda tam multa sunt, omnes noverint, qui vel recitante illo tecum simul audierunt, vel eosdem postea libros legerunt: ne in eius ornato eloquio tamquam in pretioso poculo te invitante, etsi non bibente, venenum bibant, si tu quid inde biberis, et quid non biberis nesciunt, et propter laudem tuam omnia illic bibenda salubriter arbitrantur. Quamvis et audire, et legere, et quae dicta sunt haurire memoria, quid est nisi bibere? Sed praedixit Dominus de fidelibus suis, quod et si mortiferum quid biberint, non eis nocebit. Ac per hoc qui cum iudicio legunt, et secundum regulam fidei approbanda approbant, et improbant improbanda; etiamsi commendant memoriae quae improbanda dicuntur, nulla venenata sententiarum pravitate laeduntur. Haec me Gravitatem et Religionem tuam, sive mutua, sive praevia caritate monuisse vel commonuisse minime poenitebit, Domino miserante, quomodolibet accipias, quod tibi praerogandum putavi. Agam vero ei uberes gratias, de cuius misericordia saluberrimum est fidere, si ab his pravitatibus et erroribus, quos ex libris huius hominis ostendere his litteris potui, alienam atque integram fidem tuam, vel invenerit epistola ista, vel fecerit. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Anima et eius Origine, Liber II, Caput XXIII Source: Migne PL 44.510

If you neglect to correct another when you see something that requires amendment, you act in opposition to love, but if it does not appear to you that another requires correction because you think that he is right in his understanding, you are wise against the truth. And thus he is a better man than you who is prepared to be corrected if a corrector is not lacking, if either aware that he errs you scorn him in derision, or being ignorant you also follow after the error. Therefore with sobriety and vigilance consider everything in the books another addressed and sent to you, and you will perhaps find more things there that are flawed than I have. And as for whatever is approvable and praiseworthy, if perhaps by his instruction you have learnt something in them that you did not know, openly declare what it is, so that all may know it was for this you thanked him and it was not for the many things which are worthy of reproof, things which many heard spoken at the time, or later read in the same books, lest because of his ornate style it be as if they drink poison from a precious goblet which you offer to them, even if you do not partake, those who do not know if you have tasted it or not, but because of your good character judge that they shall be drinking for the good of their health. Hearing and reading and drawing things once said from the memory, what are they but drinking? But the Lord foretold to his faithful ones that even if they drank something fatal it would not harm them. 1 Because of this, they who read with discernment and according to the rule of faith give their approval to what is approvable and disapprove of what is not, and even if they commit to memory what is not approved, they suffer no harm from the depraved poison of such things. That I have given your earnest and pious self warning and counsel because of our mutual and long standing love, which I have thought to be my first duty to you, by the Lord's mercy I shall not regret however you should receive it. But I shall give abundant thanks to Him in whose mercy it is most salutary to trust, if from these depravities and errors which I have been able to show in this man's books, this letter finds your faith far distant and unharmed by them, or it makes it so. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On the Soul and its Origin Book 2, Chapter 23 1 Mk 16.18

Perfection And Knowledge

Ut ultra non simus parvuli fluctantes... Cum enim non sumus perfecti, parvuli sumus: et cum parvuli eramus, fluctuabamus: cum autem fide confirmamur, non fluctamus. Cum cognoscimus Christum, viri efficimur. Et jam non parvuli circumferamur, omni vento doctrinae, in nequitia hominum, in astutia, ad remedium erroris. Cum enim perfecti non sumus, et in fide labimur et vacillamus et multa nos perturbant; cum per doctrinas plurimas discurrentes, vento intelligendi vario agitamur. Quae doctrina, nequitia est hominum et calliditas et astutia, et quasi quaedam remedia erroris; ut quod sentis, quasi quorumdam sapientium sensu et intelligentia sentire credas; et sit erroris tui remedium intellectus alienus. Quae omnia dimittenda sunt, ut his duabus rebus refecti simus, et virum compleamus, fide scilicet et agnitione Christi. Denique haec veluti duo scilicet fides Christi, id est in Christum, et agnitio Christi, beatum faciunt: qui vir beatus non fluctuat, non circumfertur doctrina, in nequitia hominum. Haec ita tetigit beatus propheta Davd in eodem primo psalmo: nam beatus, inquit, vir: quem nos dicimus fieri fide et Christi cognitione; qui nescit doctrinas, nescit nequitiam et errores: quos errores doctrinasque sic enumerat David dicendo: qui non abiit in consilio impiorum, et in via peccatorum non stetit, et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit. In cathedra pestilentiae sedere, est docere haereticas disciplinas: abire in consilium impiorum, est in nequitia hominum versari: stare in via peccatorum, est in astutia versari ad remedium erroris. Victorinus Afrus, In Epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios, Liber Secundus, Cap IV Source: Migne PL 8.1276b-1277a

So that we are no longer children, thrown about...' 1 We are children when we are not perfect, and when we were children we were thrown about here and there, but when we are confirmed in the faith we are not thrown about. We are made men when we know Christ, and now not children 'carried away by every wind of teaching in the wickedness of men, in cleverness,' 1 it is the cure for error. For when we are not perfect, we stumble and and we waver even in the faith and many things trouble us, and rushing about among many teachings we are disturbed by the shifting winds of understanding, which teachings are from the wickedness of men and their cleverness and cunning, as if they were a sure cure of error, so that you think you know through the sense and understanding of such wise fellows, and that such estranged minds are a cure for confusion. Which must be utterly dismissed so that we may be renewed and attain maturity by these two things, faith and the knowledge of Christ. Finally, the faith of Christ is as if twofold, that is, what makes one blessed is to be in Christ and to have knowledge of Christ. He who is a blessed man is not thrown about, nor is he whirled about by teachings amid the wickedness of men. The prophet David has touched on this in the first Psalm. 'Blessed is the man,' he says, the man whom we say has the faith and knowledge of Christ, who does not know the mentioned teachings, nor wickedness and error. Which errors and teachings David enumerates, saying, 'He who has not gone off into the counsel of the wicked, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the chair of pestilence.' 2 To sit in the chair of pestilence is to teach heresy. To go off into the counsel of the impious is to be embroiled in the wickedness of men. To stand in the way of sinners is to be striving amid cleverness as a cure for error. Victorinus Afrus, On the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, Book Two, Chapter Four 1 Ephes 4.14 2 Ps 1.1